Feb. 2, 2008
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA- The Temple women's basketball team (13-10, 6-1 A-10) continued to make history on Saturday afternoon winning its 18th consecutive Big Five game, a 60-55 victory over LaSalle (9-13, 1-6 A-10). The Owls clinch their fourth straight city series crown, becoming the first team in Big Five history to win four straight titles outright. Shenita Landry posted a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead four players in double figures. Lady Comfort chipped in with 12 points and nine boards, while newcomer Shaqwedia Wallace scored a career-high 11 points. LaKeisha Eaddy had 10 points.
Temple was nearly perfect from the free-throw line, making 12-of-13, and outrebounded the Explorers, 36-18, on its way to its sixth-straight victory. Both squads shot an impressive 56% from the field in the first half but struggled in the second stanza to finish with nearly identical shooting performances, 44% for the Owls and 47.7% for the Explorers.
LaSalle took an early 2-0 lead, thanks to two straight turnovers by the Owls. LaKeisha Eaddy finally got Temple on the board with a jumper at 17:31 to tie the game and spark a 10-3 run that made it 10-5 with just under 12 minutes to play. Eaddy was on fire during that stretch, scoring six of TU's 10 points. Temple continued to produce, this time thanks to six straight points by Shenita Landry, but the Explorers were not far behind, converting on nearly every possession. Lady Comfort's three-point play at 5:31 and a subsequent steal and lay-up by Eaddy gave Temple a nine point advantage (24-15), its largest lead of the game. The scrappy Explorers refused to back down, however, putting together a 13-5 run to get within one points (29-28) with just 55 seconds to play. Shaqwedia Wallace answered with a lay-up just 20 seconds later to give Temple a 31-28 advantage at the break. Both teams shot an impressive 56% from the field but the Owls were able to win the rebounding battle, 14-6.
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Hightower began the second half scoring for LaSalle at 19:49 but Landry answered with a jumper to preserve the three-point Cherry and White lead. That would be the Owls' last basket for over three minutes, allowing LaSalle to go on a 4-0 run and take a 34-33 lead at 16:28. The evenly matched teams traded the one-point lead for the next few minutes until two free throws by Landry made it 42-39 at the 13 minute mark. The cushion was short-lived, however, as Carlene Hightower sank two free throws at 11:45 to tie the game at 42. Wallace finally broke the deadlocked score with a jumper at 9:20 and sparked a 10-0 Temple run that made it 52-42 with just over five minutes to play, the largest differential of the game. The home team wasn't finished yet, however. Ashley Gale sank a trey for the Explorers at 4:25 to give LaSalle its first points in over seven minutes and spark a 6-0 run to make it a three-point game (52-49) with three minutes to play. Sharpshooter
Lindsay Kimmel got the Owls back on track with a three-pointer at 2:10 to give TU a six point advantage (55-49) but LaSalle answered with a trey of its own to make sure Temple didn't get too comfortable. As the clock wound down, LaSalle desperately tried to extend the game by fouling but the Owls made five free throws down the stretch to walk away with the 60-55 win and its share of Big Five history.
Landry added two blocks and two steals to her all-star performance, while Ashley Morris dished a team-high five assists and scored nine points.
Hightower led all scorers with 18 points, while Melanie Gibbons chipped in with 10.
Temple returns home to take on Charlotte on Wednesday at 12 p.m. in its annual Dawn Staley School Day. The 49ers and the Owls are tied atop the A-10 standings with Xavier and George Washington.
